Below is a VERY rough itinerary for our upcoming trip to Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. We will be driving the entire trip. We would love any recommendations and or comments. I realize that most of you will probably say that we are doing too much. If you think that, please recommend what you would cut out and why. However, the Switzerland part of the trip is a must.
Thanks.--Betsy and Jeff

Saturday July 1--Fly to Frankfurt

Sunday, July 2--Arrive Frankfurt. Drive to Rothenburg. Sleep = Rothenburg

Monday, July 3--Castle Day Sleep = Hohenschwangau

Tuesday, July 4--Finish Castles and drive to Interlaken. Sleep = Interlaken

Wednesday, July 5--Canyoning/Rafting Sleep = Lautenbrunnen

Thursday, July 6--Murreen, Gimmelwald, Schlichthorn. Sleep = Gimmelwald

Friday, July 7--Explore Berner Oberland. Drive to Innsbruck Sleep = Innsbruck

Saturday, July 8--Innsbruck. Drive to Salzburg. Sleep = Salzburg

Sunday, July 9--Salzburg. Drive to Hallstatt. Sleep = Salzburg

Monday, July 10--Hallstatt. Drive to Vienna
Sleep = Hallstatt

Tuesday, July 11--Vienna. Sleep = Vienna

Wednesday, July 12--Vienna. Drive to Melk. Sleep = Melk

Thursday, July 13--Drive to Munich early
Sleep = Munich

Friday, July 14--Munich. Sleep = Munich

Saturday, July 15--Fly back to U.S.A.

I am not an expert on this area and driving, but a quick glance tells me that you're spending only one night in each city for the first week. That's awfully ambitious. You will have come off a long flight, you'll be in a new place, new car, and you will be tired. I suggest a little slower the first week, spending at least two days at the first couple of stops.

Personally, I have found out through experience that I have a difficult time changing locations each night. I need at least 3 nights and ideally 4 nights in each place to feel comfortable.

If you want to concentrate on Switzerland, I'd suggest maybe two nights in Rothenburg (even though it's fairly small and you can "see" it in one night and one day) just so you can recover. Then maybe two or three days in the "Castle area."

I'm sure you'll get much more help than me. But I think you should slow down a little.

mom

Since Switzerland is non-negotiable, I would drop Innsbrook and either Salzburg or Vienna and Melk. There simply isn't enough time to see even the basics of both. Add one day to Rothenburg. Spend two nights in Lauterbrunnen. Interlaken is just another city. If you drop Vienna, you'll drop the drive time too.

It would be wonderful to do all that you have planned but it just won't work in the timeframe you have allowed.

Well - I do think you're trying to cover too much territory - but what I don;t understand is why you're changing hotels every night.

If I'm reading this right you plan on sleeping one night in Interlaken, one in Lauterbrunen and one in Grimmelwald. All of these places are within a few miles of each other and switching hotels would be madness - just pick one town and do day tours.

On the ohter hand you seem to be bouncing back and forth between Salzburg, Hallstat and Vienna.

You're doing the same thing in Melk. From Vienna to Munich is only about 4 hours - you can do this easily in one day while stopping off at Melk to see the abbey - giving you one more night in either city.

Suggest you start with a good road map, a list of distances between places and the idea that you waste a huge amount of time cheking in and out of hotels - so you're much better off with one hotel and a couple of day trips than 3 hotels.

What a great itinerary---I hate to see you ruin it with too many destinations.
I would drop the Vienna segment and add those days back in. You only have 13 nites in Europe---think 4 destinations:
Romantic Road
Castle country
Berner Oberland
Salzkammergut
That is plenty for 13 nites.

I agree with the others; I think you are trying to fit in too much and I think there are too many one nighters, which will leave you exhausted. I think the rough itinerary is great, and the places you want to visit are fantastic, but it would be a shame to rush through them and at the end you won't remember much.

Melk is a great town and the abbey is beautiful, but I think you could easily visit the area as a stopover from Salzburg to Vienna or from Vienna to Munich. I don't really think it needs its own night, especially since you have only one night scheduled for Vienna.

Vienna is a fabulous city that has a lot to offer and spending one night there would be a shame. I personally would drop Vienna and Melk from this trip altogether, and add nights to other parts of your trip.

Hallstatt is a fabulous town but less than an hour from Salzburg. I would consider staying in Salzburg for 2 nights and daytripping to Hallstatt and the surrounding Salzkammergut.

I haven't been to the BO but I've done enough research to agree with the above; the three towns that you are planning on sleeping in (Gimmelwald, Lauterbrunnen and Interlaken) are all very close together. I would pick one as a base and spend three nights there.

Good luck!
Tracy

Sorry, I meant to say that I personally would stay in Salzburg for 3 nights and daytrip to Hallstatt to help cut down on the one-nighters.

bob's plan sounds great!

Thanks to all for your replies. They are very helpful. We agree that we were way too ambitious. I think Bob the Navigator's plan sounds the best and we may stop in Innsbruck as a day trip (even though it is a larger city), to avoid changing hotels so many times. Vienna can be saved for another trip and tack on other cities like Prague and Budapest.

Happy Holidays,
Betsy and Jeff (we are both using my screen name)

I think that sounds like a great idea. Do try to keep your arrival/departure cities (Frankfurt and Munich) the same, as picking up a car in one country and dropping off in another can add very hefty charges on a rental car.

The whole area is fantastic and you are going to have a great time.

Enjoy!
Tracy

You don;t need to do the same airport. I've never seen a drop-off charge for two different cities within the same country (Frankfurt and Munich are both in Germany) and frequently they don;t charge even for neighboring countries (Belgium and germany, Germany and Switzerland etc).

Betsy B, I agree with Bob also. It is difficult to check in and out of hotels every day, it takes up so much of your time. Gads that also means you have to stay packed up and totally organized all of the time and if you do hand laundry, you have to keep your fingers crossed that it will dry, sort of. Find nice centrally located lodging then take day trips. It's nice to come back to a home base. Barb

Hi. Bob's outline sounds like a dream itinerary. I'll be interested to read your version as you begin to redistribute your nights. I'm a train traveler, so I have not got a handle on driving distances, so I have a couple of questions: How long will B&J's drive be from, let's say, Fussen to Lauterbrunnen, and from the Berner Oberland to Salzburg if they don't spend the night in Innsbruck? I hope you will be able to spend two nights in Rothenburg, and I find myself wishing you could make a stop in Lindau on Bodensee between Bavaria and the Oberland. Enjoy your planning; you can't go wrong with this trip. J.

nytraveler, just to clarify that in my post I was referring to the OP keeping her same travel plans she proposed in her original post (flying into Frankfurt and out of Munich) to keep costs down with regards to the rental car. I didn't mean that she needs to fly into and out of the same airport, just that she needs to drop the car in the same country she picked it up in to keep the rental car charges down. Sorry for the miscommunication on my part.

Tracy

jmw44, a good website to get driving distances is www.viamichelin.com.

According to the website, the drive from Fussen to Lauterbrunnen is 228 miles (4 hours 21 minutes), and the drive from Lauterbrunnen to Salzburg is 349 miles (5 hours 56 minutes).

I'm not a big fan of Innsbruck myself (I prefer Hall, right next door), and I'm not big on one-nighters but in this case it would probably be beneficial to break up the drive from Lauterbrunnen to Salzburg with one (or two) nights in the Innsbruck area.

Tracy

Betsy, Also consider staying on the Wolfgangsee rather than in Salzburg to put you closer to Hallstatt and all of the " Sound of Music" region. And, are you sure you want to stay in Gimmelwald---very small and isolated.

You are covering a lot of ground and I take a lot of my trips at autobahn speeds. However, I think you would be happier with your trip if you cut out some of the long distances.

I think I would consider flying into Switzerland (probably Bern) then going to the Bavarian alps with stops in Fussen, Oberammergau, Ettal Monastary, Linderhoff, Bertschesgaden on my way to Salzburg. Spend a night in Hallstadt.

Drop Vienna, Melk, Innsburck. End up in Munich and daytrip to Rothenburg if you like. You might consider droppping the car in Munich and trianing to Rothenburg. A car is a hassel in Munich because of traffic and parking. Public transportation is good.

The downside of this plan is picking up the car in Switzerland and getting dinged for dropping it in another country but that may actually be worth it if you cut out a day or two of driving.

What time of year are you planning to travel? Have you been to this area befoe?

Wow! I love this chat board - you all give such great suggestions. Keep 'em coming.

We have our flights booked - so into Frankfurt and out of Munich it is (FF MILES). We will be going the 1st 2 weeks in July. I have seen some of this area (main cities) in my college backpacking travels, but my husband has not. We'll go simple - each take a backpack and we really want a car for more freedom/flexibility.

* Our flight gets in to Frankfurt at 6AM - we will be tired, but should be able to see Rothenburg that first day, so we've settled on 1 night there.
* We are looking into Lindau and it looks just lovely!
* We'll cut out Vienna and Melk for sure
* We'll need to stay one night in Innsbruck/Tirol area, simply to break up the drive, but now will look into Hall instead (thanks to your suggestions).
* In general, we welcome off the beaten path suggestions.
* You'll all have diff. answers, but we are still trying to figure out:
1) Do we stay in Fussen, Reutte, Oberramergau, Hohenschwangau?
2) Gimmelwald/Lauterbrunnen/Murren?
3) Only Salzburg with day trips or try to stay in Halstatt as well for 1 night?

Too many questions, I know. We'll do more "homework" before future posts. Thanks, again!
(some of you I recognize/were helpful when planning our honeymoon to Italy)

Oh, and we'll consider Wolfgangsee, Bob! Thanks!

Betsy - I also endorse Wolfgangsee. I only spent a very short time there but it is lovely. There is a very old church there - St. Wolfgang's, and it's very beautiful, small but beautiful.